Submarine vessel.



J. C. BUERKE.

SUBMARINE VESSEL. APPLICATIQN FILED 111,111.4. 1916.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

atroz/maw J. C. BUERKE.

Patented D@@.12,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@Vi/Enum JESSE C. BUERKE, OF TAMPA, FLORIDA.

SUBIVIARINE VESSEL.

incassi.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.. 12, 1916..

Application led March 4, 1916. Serial No. 82,066.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Jnssn C. BUERKE, acitizen of the United States, residing at Tampa, in the county ofHillsboro and State of Florida, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Submarine Vessels, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to sublnersibles and more particularly to thattype of undersea boat provided with safety appliances by means of whichthe ballast may be released in order to preserve the buoyancy of theboat in case of leakage or similar accident.

The primary obj ect of this invention is the provision of a submersibleof the type described with ballast units adapted to be freed from theboat in such numbers as the necessity calls for in order to preserve thebuoyancy of the craft, to prevent the sinking of the same, or to causeits return to the surface of the water.

A further object is the construction of means adapted to operate tocause the releasing of the ballast units either entirely or insufficient numbers to produce the desired result.

A further object is the provision of ballast units of such relativeweights as to enable the trimming of the Ship and to restore the same toan even keel.

A still further object of this invention is the construction of theballast units in such a manner as to insure at all times their beingreleased upon the operation of suitable mechanism adapted to normallyretain such units in proper position upon the boat.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, as will from time to timeappear, this invention consists in the various related parts andcoperating elements of a submersible as herein described and moreparticularly set forth in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a portion of thisspecification and illustrating the preferred embodiment of the inventionand in which the same reference characters indicate the same partswherever used, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of asubmersible embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 ofFig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail perspective of one of the unit keys; Fig. 4Lis a perspective view of the ballast units and the releasing device;Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. l; Fig. 6 is a section of line6-6 of Fig. 1.

8 designates as a whole a submersible of any suitable type having ausual lower deck 9 spaced from the boat bottom 10. At proper intervalsthe boat bottom 10 is provided with stuliing boxes 11 through which passshafts 12 provided exteriorly of the boat with heads 13 havingoppositely extending bayonet slots 15 formed therein.

Upon the exterior of the submersible shell is a keel formed of units.The units 15 amidship are large in comparison with the units 16 at thebow and stern. Each unit comprises preferably a solid metal block havinga pointed end 17 and a recessed end 18, the adjacent ends of each keelunit being adapted to engage to form a keel extending the properdistance upon the boat bottom.

In the upper face of each unit is a depression 19 carrying a transversepin 20 having rollers 20-20 thereon, the larger units 15-15 having aplurality of such depressions and their attendant mechanism. The rollers20--20 are adapted to engage the slots 11 of the projecting heads 13 andto rest upon the edge 141 thereof, it being necessary to turn the member13 slightly to permit the rollers to move upwardly into proper positionupon the edges 14. By these means the units are supported adjacent theboat bottom and when all in proper position to form an unbroken keel forthe boat.

Each shaft 1.2 extends from its stuffing box upwardly into the interiorof the ship where it is provided with a crank arm 21 keyed thereon andheld in place by a nut 22 and having an eye 23 adapted to receive a pin24 engaging a rod 25 running lengthwise of the boat, preferably to thestern thereof. This construction is the same for each of the units16-16.

Each pair of units 15-15 have a common rod 25 engaging the cranks 21 fora purpose hereinafter explained.

The rods 25--25 terminate at the stern of the vessel and have extensions26 thereon adapted to seat behind a transverse bar 27 normally forced upagainst the extension 26 by a spring 28. Above the bar 27 is a rod 29upon which is rigidly mounted a lever 30 by means of which the rod 29may be rotated to cause thecam members 31 carried thereby to engage thebar 27 to depress the same against the action of the spring 28.

Each of the rods 25-25 carries a spring 32 adapted to exert a pull onsaid rods to cause the extensions 25 to be held against the bar 27. l

Adjacent the springs 32 is a rod 33 pivotally carrying a plurality oflevers 3-1 having arms 35 provided with yokes engaging the rods 25 or 25insuch manner that movement of the lever 34 will cause the companion rod25 or 25 to be raised to permit the extensions 2G to pass freely overthe bar 27 under the action of the spring 32.

In order to properly support the weight of the keel the submersible isprovided with brackets 33 supporting, by means of ball bearings 39, theshafts 12.

Upon the exterior of the boat, should it be desirable, there may beprovided a casing 40 covering a portion of the keel.

' The operation of the mechanism above described is as follows: Shouldthe buoyancy of the vessel become impaired at any time from accident orother cause and it becomes necessary to lighten the vessel to preventsinking yor to return to the surface the proper lever 34 is depressed toraise the extension 26 over the bar 27 when the rod 25 or 25 under theaction of the spring 32 Will move rearwardly, operating the crank 21 toVrturn the shaft 12 which releases the rollers 20-20 from the edges 14of the slot 14, freeing the unit supported thereby which falls 'by itsown weight, thus lightening the ship. Should it be desired in case ofemergency to lighten the vessel as much as possible the lever 30 isdepressed to cause the cams 31 to engage the bar 27 to depress the sameagainst the spring 28, thus freeing the extensions 26 and all of therods 25-25 are supported from following the motion of bar 27 by a barV27, but allows'them to move back under the tension of the springs 32and release vall of the keel units as before explained foi` the singleunit. The rods oper- 25 are used to regain the equilibrium if lost byaccident or otherwise, and are however designed to balance correspondingunits on opposite ends of the ship in order to maintain equilibrium incase all units were tripped as by lever 30.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of my invention could be'made,without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

That I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a submersible, a keel comprising ballast units adapted toreleasably inter-engage one another, means for holding the units inplace, and means for releasing the units independently or as a whole.

2. In a submersible, a keel comprising detachable units, attaching meanscarried by each of said units, means on the vessel for releasablyengaging the unit attaching means, and means adapted to operate theengaging means to release the units in the desired proportion.

3. In a submersible, a keel comprising detachable units, attaching meanscarried by each of said units, said means comprising pins, rollersspaced apart on the pins, means on the vessel for releasably engagingthe unit attaching means, and means adapted to operate the engagingmeans to release the units in the desired proportion.

L1. In a submersible, a keel comprising detachable units, means forremovably securing said units to the vessel, a plurality of transverselevers on said means, longitudinally extending rods on said levers, and

means for operating the reds and levers to cause the units to bedetached in proper proportion.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JESSE C. BUERKE. Titnesses E. F. CAMP, F. L. BROWNE.

Uopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

